Stories from Camp – Day 1

June 13-18, 2011

Article 1: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.” [from Universal Declaration of Human Rights]

On Day 1 we learned about Koinonia Farm’s work to for equality. And our campers themselves were an example of this principle – they came from very diverse backgrounds: black, white, latino, from Atlanta to North Carolina to LaGrange, high income to low income – and, for a week, this diverse group of campers built friendships and lived together in community.

Our group of campers met for the first time at Emmaus House in Atlanta. We played a "group name juggling" game to begin getting to know each other.

With new friendships blossoming, we piled into our vehicles for the drive down to Koinonia Farm, our home for the week.

At Koinonia, we took a tour of the farm and learned about the communities Civil Rights history and current work for social justice.

The Koinonia Farm dog just had puppies - the campers LOVED the puppies!

Koinonia grows pecans and produces many treats made with them for sale. We got to taste some. Yum!

Part of our peacebuilding work was living in community. On our first night Counselor Cherilyn's group cooked dinner: Lasagna!

That evening, we introduced the campers to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights - our guide to peacebuilding for the week of camp.

The evening of our first night of camp was spent exercising our right to leisure - telling stories and making s'mores around a bonfire!

Testimonials

“Thanks for everything. You taught me so much. Your hospitality, kindness, and accepting helped me realize that there is hope for the world after all."
-Trevyn, 2014 camper

“I loved, loved Peacebuilders Camp! It is such a great camp for teens, it helped me a lot, I learned so many things and I am hoping to come back next year.”
-Farzana, 2016 camper

"Thank you for another wonderful experience. Faith has not stopped talking about her week! We love hearing about her week and the new friends she made. You are making such a dynamic impact on our world! We cannot thank all of you enough!!"
- Kathy O’Hara-Rosa, parent

"I just wanted to say thank you thank you thank you! Tajahnae said she didn’t want to leave! Thank you for the opportunity for Tajahnae to experience something amazing she can’t stop talking about it!"
- Akia Bennett, parent